Introduction to the campaign in Central Germany

Campaign areas of Germany

There are three campaign areas in Germany

North - 1^st French army v Prussian army

Centre - 2^nd French army v Russian army

South - 3^rd French army v Austrian army

This map shows the location of each army at the start of the campaign

Central Germany

There are three regions in central Germany

Dusseldorf region is the rear area for Second French army

Dresden region is the rear area for the Russian Army

Erfurt district is the disputed area between them

Erfurt Region

This is the region where the campaign will be fought

There are nine military districts in the region.  

Each campaign phase will take place in one region

 

At the start of the campaign Second French army is in Fulda district

The Russian army is in Gera district

The first campaign phase will be Erfurt district             

Second French Army

Marshal Davout

2^nd Young Guard corps

5^th French corps      

6^th French corps

14^th Westphalian corps

3^rd Reserve corps

 

There is a detailed order of battle at Label 21

Russian Army

General Wittgenstein

1^st Russian corps

2^nd Russian corps

3^rd Russian corps

4^th Russian corps

Reserve corps

There is a detailed order of battle at Label 22

 

Campaign Diary

The French Grand Army was destroyed during the 1812 Russian campaign

Napoleon had to create a new Army of Germany to fight the 1813 campaign

 

1 February 1813 - Austria, Britain, Prussia and Russia declared war on France

1 February 1813 - Napoleon ordered the formation of Second French army in Dusseldorf region under the command of Marshal Davout.

26 February 1813 – Second French army declared operational.

28 February 1813 - The Russians moved into the Erfurt region and occupied Gera district

2 March 1813 - Davout entered Erfurt region and occupied Fulda district

14 March 1813 – Start of Erfurt campaign phase

Reference

The campaign diary contains comprehensive details of the whole campaign.   The labels on the right are an index to various parts of the campaign.

 

01 - Introduction to the1813 campaign

02 - Five campaign areas

20 - Introduction to the campaign in central Germany

21 – 2^nd French Army order of battle

22 - Russian Army order of battle

23 - Daily diary for the campaign in central Germany

24 - Battle reports of all battles fought in central Germany

25 - Summary of campaign in central Germany